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Some bloggers write as a side project, some make a reasonable living from it, and a lot of us do it because we want to be some sort of writer or a journalist. Those of us who do that are used to the struggling life of a writer, we know what it’s like to suffer in order to perfect our craft. It involves spreading ourselves far too thin, and staring at a blank white page on Word in the ugly hours of the night. Then we go to our normal jobs looking like a homeless version of one of the witches from Hocus Pocus. It is a delightful experience of everybody.

Who even gets to be a journalist now? Is it anybody who can afford to do a Masters at a prestigious journalism school? Is it someone with the right connections? Or can we chock it up to dumb luck? Journalism is one of the least secure career paths you can choose, stability is not on the cards and financially you’re not in for a pot of gold unless you’re secretly Piers Morgan. If you want to go into this field, you need a thick skin and an arrogant edge that tells you you’re the best. You’ll get no where without self belief.

These are the things I know about the path to getting your job as a writer or journalist. If you need me, I’ll be sat in a corner chewing on my hair, because this job path has driven me to insane and unbelievable actions. Read all about it, Goldilocks ruined her hair! Suffered for art! Continue reading →

Note: This is not a political piece and will not concentrate on the details of his presidency – there is time for that later on, this is the story of the haunting tragedy of the loss of a leader.On November 11, Robert J. Samuelson of TheWashington Post claimed that “The fascination with the Kennedys endures, though it’s probably on its last lap. After all, about three-quarters of Americans either weren’t born when Kennedy was shot or were too young (under 5) to grasp what happened. It’s a distant and disconnected event to them.” All historical events are somewhat distant to the current and future generations, how can we be wired to connect to something we didn’t physically experience? In the case of JFK, it is the abhorrent destruction of the idealised and sugar coated American dream that makes the historic event relevant in today’s generation, and it is kept alive by conspiracy theories and the insatiable need for answers and classified information that cannot be given.

Next Autumn,Celtic Manor near Newport is hosting the 2014 Nato Summit, scheduled to take place between the 4-5th September. This means that the most influential world leaders will be brought to our fine Welsh land. The best part of this, is that it means Barack Obama will be joining them, marking the first official Presidential visit to Wales in history.

President Obama is a busy man, and will surely have little time to digest vast amounts of Welsh tourism guides. This is where I feel it is my duty to intervene, as anyone who has gone through my blog knows I take an active interest in the Obama presidency. So, it is down to my civil obligation that I have compiled a list of all things Cymraeg for the President to enjoy during his stay. Continue reading →

On the evening of September the 11th, The New York Timespublished a piece written by Vladimir Putin on it’s Op-Ed page. The piece, entitled “A Plea for Caution From Russia” set out to settle a few things that we may have been wondering during the course of the Syria crisis. The Op-Ed has gathered praise from many Americans, claiming that Putin makes more sense and conducts more of an intellectual and cohesive argument than President Barack Obama. It has also been called a gesture of sincerity towards the American nation.

However, it can be seen as a tactical move in Putin’s political operation. It is intelligent, smooth and targeting the American people directly. It’s also in The New York Times, so an implied notion of credibility is attached to it’s publication. By liaising with the American media, especially one such as the Times, Putin looks as if he is taking steps forward in becoming more of a friend to the nation. The whole piece seems rational, calm and a collected chain of well informed thoughts. Continue reading →

In the days before the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the United States is once again faced with grim conflict and images of war. Barack Obama is determined to hold Syria and the Assad regime accountable for an attack on August 21st which killed 1,429 of it’s own people, of which over 400 were children.

There is evidence which suggests that these civilians were victims to a chemical weapon known as Sarin gas. The gas causes a grisly death for it’s victims. The effect of Sarin is the paralysis of general lung function, the victims will experience suffocation, vomiting, and convulsions in the 15 minutes it will take them to die. This alone is a terror tactic to intimidate rebellion and terrify civilians into submissive assent.

For anyone who turned on the television last night, it was something we might have wished we hadn’t done. Aerial images of the aftermath of the Boston Marathon explosions saturated the news, and the amount of blood stained ground and juxtaposition of events was enough to make you want to turn the television straight back off. Continue reading →

I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. – Barack ObamaNovember 6th saw the re-election of President Barack Obama, and the return of a communicator reaching the heights of communication skills not much seen since 2008.

During the election, polls showed a disengagement between Mr. Obama and the electorate, yet the fragmented population seemed more willing to give the President a second chance than to risk the future of a delicate economy on Mitt Romney. Barack Obama seemed to display the same comeback kid persona as seen by Bill Clinton during his time in office, and voiced less elaborate promises than during his 2008 campaign. His campaign was also helped by the crisis management of Hurricane Sandy, with his approval ratings rising following the relief efforts. A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll demonstrated that 70% of those polled approved of the President’s efforts following the storm.

The 2012 campaign was based on the lessons learned during the first term, and on reality rather than promises. Voters seemed to have lowered their expectations for the President and accept that he is trying to fix America’s problems whilst wrestling with an uncooperative GOP who seemed eager to see him fail. The conflict between a party eager to see a leader fall and a leader set on a pedestal to deliver change was bound to have negative effects on the electorate. However, after the election result the GOP now need to battle with their image or risk becoming a minority party after losing two elections in a row. Early exit polls also demonstrated that almost 50% of voters blamed previous president George W. Bush for the struggling economy rather than place the responsibility entirely on Obama.

The campaign was an devised to be minority centric, and Obama’s campaign team make political history as revitalising hope in a President who had seen less than stellar approval ratings during his first term in office. Voters seemed to be built up of an alliance of minorities, including the Hispanic vote, African Americans, the women’s vote, and young Americans. The fusion of these minority groups in the electorate essentially gave Obama the edge he needed in the race. It became clear once Barack Obama won New Hampshire that the race could be headed in his favour, and even without Florida’s delegates at the end of the night the President had closed the race. This means a national health care system to be in action by 2014, an act wanted to be repealed by opponent Mitt Romney.

We are greater than the sum of our individual ambition and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states – Barack Obama

President Obama’s victory speech saw the revival of inspiring rhetoric, based on hope and unification of American citizens. We saw a performer that we longed to see in the debates, a man who had seemed broken by an uncooperative system and a conflicted electorate, and freed from the electoral pressure seemed to be as charismatic and hopeful as we remember. The speech itself revitalised the image of the 2008 Obama, although the President spent the campaign ensuring voters of achievable goals rather than difficult promises, the victory speech saw the vital return of an icon eager to conjure hope in the supporters he gained, supporters he kept, and supporters he won back. As the President gets back to work he needs to avoid a looming fiscal crisis, and secure voter’s trust in the second chance they have handed to him for the next four years. Barack Obama can now join Bill Clinton in the dynasty of incumbent underdogs and comeback kids, and continue the change he began four years ago.